We are celebrating the release of The Pining‘s debut album on Friday, June 24th! Join us at the El Mocambo in Toronto for the party!

The Pining will be supported by:

Coole and Downes - a newly-formed musical partnership between banjo-pickin’ Chris Coole, a true veteran of the international bluegrass & old-time circuits, and Simone Downes, one of the brightest new flames in Canadian country songwriting

catl (acoustic) - stripped down 2-piece – two-thirds the people, half the volume but all the drunken glory. Johnny Larue takes the night off as Sarah K. and catl take the music back to its quiet place

Tickets are $10 at the door and $7 advanced (available at Rotate This and Soundscapes)

Blocks is so proud to hear and see our friend Katie Stelmanis making waves with her new project Austra! Get her Blocks release, Join Us here and digitally, here. Pick up Austra’s Feel it Break over at Paper Bag Records here Check out this PS22 Choral rendition of Energy and feel good about life!

There is a sound. A real old one. It comes in off the Prairies, wanders in from Cape Breton and it pings off the giant nickel in Sault St. Marie. This sound has memories of Anne Murray’s all-junkie band of the 1970s. The junkie bass player still owes the sound 20 bucks it will never get back. Twenty bucks was a lot of money back then. The sound grumbles about Toronto but settles there anyway. The sound finds its ass dragging pretty close to the ground in the city. It walks into some bars: the Cameron; the Shoe; some basement on College St. prone to flooding. The sound finds that it’s welcome in Toronto. WTF? the sounds asks. Really? The sound is an ancient memory of all things not big city or fancy: it’s gingham and gasoline; it’s the sound of drunk daddies laughing on Friday night and weeping mommas on Sunday; it’s a natural resource, like something hauled in a net or burned out of a smokestack. The sound is The Pining. It’s about everything lost and found.(Brian Joseph Davis – Joylandmagazine.com)

Behold, lucky children of T.O. The eternally smooth, soulful, slinky and seductive sounds of Mantler will envelope and entertain you for not one but two solo sets of bittersweet balladry and magical melodies. Being that this show takes place in the same week as Saint Valentines’ Day, Mantler is promising inclusion of some R&B L-O-V-E songs amidst his usual glorious Wurlitzer-soaked originals.

2010 saw the release of the 4th Mantler long-player, instant classic ‘Monody’, described by Carl Wilson at Slate.com as “my default choice whenever I put on music this year.” If you ain’t got it, get it (available on vinyl at this show on the Blocks merch table).

Tomboyfriend Album Release Party

Sunday December 12th

9pm @ The Garrison, Toronto

Join us for a night of great music-making with Sasha Van Bon Bon, The Craft Economy, Random Order and other special friends and guests as we celebrate the release of Tomboyfriend’s album, “Don’t Go To School.” DOOR: $5 or PWYC

New Releases They keep coming. BRC 065Wise Words! Don’t Go To School! The New 12 track CD from Tomboyfriend is now available from Blocks. Get it while it lasts!Order it here. Also, TBF play a show November 19th at The Tranzac w/ Metal Kites and Secret Brothers.